Manners- Curriculum

This year, I am excited to officially add "Proper Manners and Health Habits" as part of our curriculum. Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I haven't been teaching her these things on a daily basis and that she is a heathen, it's just that I have never purchased books for it.

I have purchased "Proper Manners and Health Habits" from Rod and Staff Publishers, Inc. These books are small, full of illustrations and wonderful information.

And, the best part for me? The teacher and student book set cost a total of $6.05.














My friend Kim and I have also formed a little co-op for our girls (1st & 2nd grades) to teach them manners from this book: The Family Book of Manners

Handwriting Practice

There are alot of handwriting curriculum's available to help you teach your child how to write. One of my favorites is "A reason for Handwriting". Not only does it give daily practice for each letter but it also has your child writing words that are part of a bible verse (1st grade). It is also full of cute little cartoon children and other colorful images.

For the kindergarten book, there are pages to practice the letter and then a corresponding letter picture to color. Really nice!

All of that to say that I don't use it any more. I love it but gave it away. Why? I simply wasn't using it. This happens to me-I buy it, love it, but then find that I can piece something together that is just as effective.

Each week Little Cheese has to learn a bible verse for our church's AWANA program and for her Sunday School class. Monday - Wednesday we practice writing the AWANA verse and then Thursday - Friday we practice the Sunday School verse. This is highly effective not only in the practice that she gets but in the repitition of reading the verse to learn it.

Here is what I do:

















Then I prop it up or tape it up for her to copy on another sheet of paper. We are still using the large lined paper- I'm not actually sure when you move on to other paper.

Here is something to think about. I was writing the verse on this paper, skipping a line, so that Little Cheese could write directly under what I had written. Does that make sense? Anyway, at a recent Daisy's meeting, my eyes were opened to a difference in my homeschool daughter and all the other little ones who go to public school.

The goal was to copy something off of a chalk board onto another sheet of paper. All of the other girls quickly and effeciently copied the words and waited patiently but excitedly for the fun to begin. I look over at my daughter who is working dilegently but slowly. She had never had to copy something from a chalkboard. Or anything for that matter. She was struggling in looking up from her paper, locating the next thing to write, then looking back down again.

I want to do the best that I can for Little Cheese. I don't want her to struggle with something so simple. So, now she practices everyday-looking up and down to do her handwriting.

Whew.

Horizons Math

I began homeschooling my daughter last year for Kindergarten. My husband and I had always known that we would homeschool our children and I must tell you that when it came down to it, I was more than a little scared.

I searched and looked, looked and searched for a math curriculum. Math was never my strong point in school so I wanted something engaging, colorful, and that would be easy to follow. I landed on Horizons Math by Alpha Omega Publishing, Inc. I liked it so much that I am using it again this year for 1st grade.

What I like about it?

1. The ease of teaching it. The information is laid out in such a way that not only do I feel comfortable trying to teach Gracie new topics, but she feels comfortable and is not intimidated.
2. The repetition. A new topic will be learned and then it is regularly repeated and practiced on following pages in short increments.
3. The colorful pages. Not only does it simply make the work seem a little more inviting but it also makes it easy to tell Gracie which portions of the page I would like her to do. For example: We might come to a page that has alot of practice problems for topics already discussed, learned, and mastered. I am able to say "Only do the ones in the purple boxes".
4. The information learned is amazing! Not only is Gracie learning on the same level/rate as her peers in public school (I have friends with 1st graders in public school) but in some areas this curriculum has touched on items that have not been in the public schools.
5. Each page is an individual lesson. This gives Gracie a sense of accomplishment when she can tell her Daddy that she completed 2 or 3 "lessons" of math a day. It also makes it easier to plan for this subject.

So, there. I like Horizons Math and would highly recommend it!